Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sweet and Heat

Is there something wrong with drinking coffee on a Saturday evening at 6:30? Well even if there is, I don't care! I have plans to go out on the town tonight with the boys! ;) The hubby and I are going to go to the casino with some friends and get dinner then go play cards. While waiting for him, though, I am passing time by watching Modern Family. I love this show!!! So hilarious!!!!!

Today I hung out with my super amazing friend, Karyssa! It was a fun time, as always. My dad called me while I was with her and we decided to meet up for lunch. I had told him about my cupcake experiment I made and he was anxious to try it! I love the fact that my dad is so excited about trying all my baked goods!!! :D I was unsure of how they turned out, but according to my dad, they were delicious! WoO hOo!!!! 


During my dad's birthday get together, he told me he had made some habanero butter! He gave me some and I decided that this butter HAD to be baked into something! I decided to make a cupcake of some sort and use the habanero butter as a small portion of the butter required in the recipe. It doesn't take much of the butter to kick you in the mouth. After thinking long and hard, I chose a dark chocolate cake as the base of my cupcakes. Chocolate and chili DO seem to go well together......

I had originally called these DARK CHOCOLATE HABANERO CUPCAKES (I know, reeeeeeeeaaaal creative.......), but after my dad tasted them he said something on the terms of sweet and heat, and I realized at that moment, that needed to be the name of this creation. So here you have it, the Sweet and Heat Cupcakes!!!!!


INGREDIENTS:
I halved the recipe.....so the ingredients shown are for 1/2 the amounts

2 3/4 cups (+ 5 1/2 TBSP) cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup habanero butter (butter has to be made at home by mincing habanero peppers, melting butter, and then mixing them together. Once mixed, let butter solidify)
2 1/4 cups white sugar (I used Baker's Sugar)
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
2 cups boiling water


DIRECTIONS:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Line cupcake pan with cupcake cups
-Heat 2 cups water to boiling, and then in a medium bowl, pour boiling water over the dark cocoa powder; whisk until all mixed together. Set aside to cool (or place in freezer to speed up the cooling process)

-Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside
Beautifully sifted mound of dry ingredients! :)

-In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butters and sugar until light and fluffy
 The orangey butter is the habanero butter! Yummmm!!!!

Light and fluffy! :)

-Beat in eggs, one at a time
Can you see the little bits of habanero pepper mixed in there??? :D

-Stir in the vanilla

-Slowly add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture
 Flour

Cocoa

-Mix until all is incorporated
I was scared to try the batter, but it was actually pretty tasty! :)

-Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full
-Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
-Frost with chocolate frosting of your choice (I used this recipe for the frosting, but added in 2 TBSP [regular] cocoa powder. You can use dark cocoa powder as well if you want)




I made lots of mini cupcakes so that they were perfect for tasters.......


I DiD, tHoUgH, play around and decided to bake a couple with a second hidden surprise in them......

Yes, that is a Halloween Oreo baked inside of a regular sized cupcake. I loved the extra flavor the Oreo gave them!!!! Yummmmm!!! 


Go ahead and give these a try. They would be perfect for someone who likes sweet and spicy things, or even as a gag baked good for April Fool's Day! ;) It definitely is fun to see people's reactions when the heat starts to kick in!!! Hahahaha! 

I know, I can be mean at times! ;) 

Have a great rest of your weekend everyone!!!!!

Much l<3ve like always,
Amy

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